child at heart

This is not a New Years resolution. I do not really have any of those anyway because I never end up sticking to them. The only resolution I have set aside for this year is to do at least 10 things on my 100 things to do before I die list, but it’s not any specific 10. That way I have made a decision to be proactive and do some things I want to get done in life but I am not trying to do something unrealistic like loose 50 pounds, or meet prince charming and get married before 2009.

In my quest to become a healthier more active person I have decided on the 7th of January to start one of the aspects of the First Place biblical diet. It promotes more fruits and veggies but does allow sweets also, which I am all for with my sweet tooth. It is a lot like Weight Watchers in a sense I guess, but it does promote a healthier food choice lifestyle rather than the anything goes as long as you are under your allotted points mentality that WW has. Alaura, a friend from work, is doing it with her parents also so we are planning on being accountability partners with one another… I really hope this works because while I work out a good bit I am still eating crap so workouts are not doing all they could be doing, plus I don’t want to wait until I am faced with a gastric bypass decision like my father before I change all my eating habits.

Along that same time I am also doing a lot of research about HEALTHY liquid diets. My plan, when I do know something that is doable and would not hurt myself in the process, plan on taking one week out of every month and doing straight liquids that whole week (ie: blended/juiced fruits, veggies, soups, V8, smoothies, water etc.) and the other weeks out of that month doing healthy solid foods. I have started talking to Patricia, my trainer, about it and being healthy in the process and she also has advised me to get plenty of information if not also talking to a nurse/doctor about this before jumping head in… especially if I did do it for a whole week. I really am interested in doing it as a fast, almost like giving it up for lent, and as a time to grow closer to the Lord but I do not want to lack myself of important nutrients or starve myself whether intentionally or not.  

My ultimate goal of this entire thing is to lower my body fat % more, my body mass index and my weight to where I am out of the obese range for my height, which I am currently in…. and I hate it every time I look at myself in the mirror. I ask for prayer so that I do not get all caught up in the body image curse when I do begin to loose weight (since I will be eating healthier) and I pray it does not consume me. I ask for accountability and rebuking if I do get caught up in that trap.

My motivation behind this lifestyle change is my father. I do not  want to end up like him, I would rather change now because I want to instead because I have to in order to survive. The picture is from the day before dad had the surgery and he was an incredible 333 pounds, who wants to live a life like that? Especially in my case when I have seen what it’s like to live like that and I see the way out… I WILL NOT let myself get to that point.

One of the main reasons for this post is that I would really appreciate it if anyone had any advice about liquid diets… or if you know where I could go to get some valuable research. I really want to do this the right way.